US: Justin Pearson reinstated to Tennessee state legislature

Democratic state lawmaker Justin Pearson from Tennessee was reappointed by his county legislature in Memphis. Pearson’s reinstatement comes a week after he was expelled by a Republican supermajority in the state legislature along with a fellow Democratic lawmaker over gun violence protests.

Pearson was sworn back to his seat in the state legislature on Thursday, a week after he, along with fellow Democrat Justin Jones, was expelled by the state’s Republican supermajority for leading a protest on gun control following a mass shooting that took place in the state. The day before, the county legislature that includes Pearson’s district in Memphis voted to reappoint Pearson to his seat in the state house.

“We’ve just been expelled, but we’re back,” Pearson told the crowd of supporters during his swearing-in, his third time being sworn into office after getting appointed to the vacant seat in January and winning the special election in March. “You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel our voice. You can’t expel our fight.”

“I’m so glad to be fighting with you because victory is ours,” said Pearson.

Pearson and Jones are part of the three Democratic lawmakers the GOP supermajority in the state house sought to expel over breaching rules of decorum in the legislature known as the Tennessee Three. The other lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, was spared from expulsion by one vote.

Jones was previously reinstated to his seat by the Nashville County legislature on Monday and sworn in on the same day. Tennessee House Republicans have said in a statement that they will welcome back any expelled state lawmakers returned by county-level governments.

The expulsion of Jones and Pearson has also underscored the issue of gun violence in the country. While Jones, Pearson, and Johnson led demonstrations following a shooting in Nashville, the recent shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, has also prompted leaders of both states to call for tighter controls on guns.

Tennessee’s Republican governor Bill Lee told members of the state house on Tuesday that a compromise is needed to boost the state’s “red flag” laws on firearms, aiming to make it more difficult for those who are deemed a threat to themselves and to others, from having access to guns.